KUALA LUMPUR/JAKARTA: Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has called for diplomatic solutions and for the international community to act with urgency following Israeli and US strikes on Iran.
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto has said he is willing to travel to Tehran “to conduct mediation”.
“I urge the United States and Iran to pursue a diplomatic off-ramp rather than further escalation, and the international community to act with urgency and without double standards,” Anwar said, as quoted in local media on Saturday (Feb 28).
“Israel’s initiation of these strikes was a vile attempt to sabotage ongoing negotiations and to drag other nations into a conflict that could prove impossible to contain.”
He added that the strikes have brought the Middle East to the “edge of catastrophe”.
The prime minister also expressed his concern for the safety of Malaysians in Iran and elsewhere in the region, stating that he would be in touch with regional partners on the next steps on this matter.
In a statement released on Saturday by Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on X, Malaysia’s neighbour Indonesia also called “on all parties to exercise restraint and to prioritise dialogue and diplomacy”.
Indonesia reiterates the importance of “respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every country and resolving differences through peaceful means,” the statement said, as quoted by local media platform Tempo.
It added that Prabowo had said he was willing to travel to Tehran “to conduct mediation” if agreed to by both the US and Iran.
Other Southeast Asian countries have also spoken out, following Israel and the US’ attack of unprecedented scale, in which Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed.
On Saturday, Thailand’s prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in a Facebook post that the Kingdom was “gravely concerned” by the current situation in the Middle East.
“We are deeply saddened by the impact of the tensions and violence on innocent civilians. I am particularly mindful of the safety and well-being of all Thai people and all our friends in the affected areas,” the post said.
Anutin also called for immediate and sincere efforts to de-escalate the situation through dialogue and diplomacy, in accordance with international laws and the global community’s shared interest in maintaining peace and stability.
That same day, Spokesperson of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pham Thu Hang said that the country was deeply concerned about the complicated and escalating conflict in the Middle East.
“Vietnam calls upon all relevant parties to exercise maximum restraint, immediately cease all escalatory actions, protect civilians and essential infrastructure, and resolve differences by peaceful means in strict accordance with international law, the United Nations Charter, and relevant United Nations resolutions,” she said, as quoted by local media.
The United States and Israel launched a wave of strikes against targets in Iranian cities on Saturday, sending columns of smoke rising over Tehran as Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles across the region.
Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) confirmed on Sunday that Khamenei was killed at his office. The state media had also reported that Khamenei’s daughter, grandchild, daughter-in-law and son-in-law were killed in the strikes.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/anwar-calls-diplomacy-amid-us-iran-conflict-prabowo-prepared-mediate-5961511
